


083 -You've Got a Girlfriend, Then Again... There's Van

by storiesaboutvan



Category: Catfish and the Bottlemen (Band)
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17439623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesaboutvan/pseuds/storiesaboutvan
Summary: Filling the prompt “bisexual or pansexual reader meeting van when they have a girlfriend (maybe keepin in contact because they’re related to one of the other boys or summat ??) but the relationship ending and van sweeping them off their feet a bit later ??”





	083 -You've Got a Girlfriend, Then Again... There's Van

"It's a brilliant idea, yeah?" your brother said. You kept flicking through the artist's portfolio. Bondy was going to commission them to paint him and his best friend Lou into a Renaissance scene.

"It's… fucking weird… so I guess that's appropriate for you," you said.

"Let me see," your girlfriend asked. You handed over the iPad and let her look. "I think it will be class,"

"Thank you, Tash. At least someone is supportive."

You rolled your eyes at him. There was a knock on the front door followed by an immediate entry. "Bondy!" someone, someone you identified quickly as Van, called. "Mate, give us a hand!"

Bondy stood and walked out of the small kitchen. He returned carrying a box of records. Van followed close behind with another. You wondered how Van managed to carry them both up the stairs in the building alone.

"Hey Van," Tash greeted him first.

"Hey guys," he replied. You liked Van a lot, but he never really seemed to warm to you much. Everyone else, including Tash, he had buckets of love for. There was something about you that must have rubbed him the wrong way. He wouldn't wrap his arm around your shoulder like he did everyone else. He didn't call you pet names. Never sent you funny pictures. He even physically seemed to avoid you if you were in the same room and it wouldn't be dead obvious to do so. You kept all these observations to yourself though. You didn't want to whine about someone not showing you enough platonic affection. It seemed like a childish thing to do.

"What are those for?" Tash asked him. 

"You know that old record store near Bob's house? It's closing down. They were just going to throw these out. Said they probably couldn't even sell them,"

"Are they any good?" you asked. Van shrugged in reply. You stood and moved to flick through the boxes. As you did you could see why the store didn't bother keeping them. They were very old, and most you hadn't heard of. There were a few good ones, though. 

"Let's get some smoke going and fire up the decks," Bondy said in his mock-radio announcer voice. He rubbed his hands together and walked out the room. Van picked up one of the boxes and followed. You looked over at Tash. 

"Don't even ask," she said. 

"What?"

"You want to stay and get high with them, right?" Her voice was cold. It wasn't like you had plans for the night. You had dropped by Bondy's on the way home from the shops. There wasn't anything frozen in your bags that would melt. No big deal. When you didn't reply she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Y/N," 

"Why are you trying to make me feel bad about wanting to hang out with my brother?" you said back. There was accusation in your tone, and you were trying to guilt her. It wasn't a goal you realised you were aiming for, but it was your motivation nonetheless. 

"I'm not. I'm just saying we were meant to hang out-"

"We will be. Just, here instead of home." You said home like it was a shared place when in reality it was your apartment. Tash just spent most her time there. Sometimes you missed the feeling of living alone. She looked at you carefully, stood and picked up her bag. 

"Maybe we should just not hang tonight. I'll catch a bus to mine. See you later." 

You knew you should have stopped her, but you didn't. She said goodbye to Bondy and Van on her way out. "Not staying?" Bondy asked. Tash lied and said she had work. As the front door closed, you picked up the second box of records and carried them to the lounge. You sat down and Bondy handed over the pipe. 

…

You and Tash made up, but there was underlying tension that was never truly resolved. Everything felt a little less glowy after that, and a little more forced. That state of living left you stressed. When Bondy's birthday rolled around a few weeks later, you knew you'd have to enlist the help of others to get anything sorted because of your unsettled mind. Lou was out of the country. The next best option was Van. You messaged him and asked to meet. 

You were sitting at a small table in the back of the cafe when Van arrived. He approached from behind you and pat you once on the shoulder in a greeting. It was weird to feel his touch. He sat down opposite you. 

"Hey. You ordered?" You shook your head no. He got up and walked to the counter without asking what you wanted. When he returned he was straight to business. "What's the plan? Bondy hates surprises?" 

"I know. That's why there's not a plan yet," you said. 

You started to brainstorm ideas, and you noticed Van's pointy teeth for the first time. When he smiled or laughed you were distracted by them. You noticed how much he said 'thank you' too. When a girl brought the order over, he was at a thanks count of four by the time she left. She was clearly charmed by him, too. He'd ordered you a soy hot chocolate with hazelnut flavour. You didn't know how he knew your drink of choice. There was a lot of things about him that maybe you never bothered to see.

By the time you had a solid plan for Bondy's birthday, you had finished your drink. Van hadn't. He was sipping his tea slowly, and kept refilling from the pot. You didn't know if you were meant to wait for him, so you did. It seemed like the polite thing to do.

"So how's work?" he asked.

"Hate it. The usual,"

"Why don't you quit, do something you love?"

"That's all well and good for you to suggest. You're very good at the thing you love, so it worked out,"

"You didn't see us that the start. I was terrible at guitar. I just kept going. Never wanted to have a desk job," he said shrugging. He took another sip.

He kept asking questions, and it was easy to talk to him. You didn't know what you had done to make him like you all of a sudden, but you were happy you'd done it. As you parted ways out the front of the café, he hugged you tightly and kissed your cheek. It tingled the whole bus ride home.

…

When you got home your little bubble of joy was burst when you saw Tash sitting on the floor outside your apartment door. She stood up as you got closer.

"Were we…?" If you'd forgotten a date or something, that would be it. 

"No. We didn't have plans. But I think we need to talk," she said. Maybe that was it anyway.

…

Bondy's birthday involved an incredibly painful game of paintball in the late afternoon. It was just his closest friends, then there would be a party at a house across town. You were happy with the decision to give people a few hours between the game and the party. Sweat was dripping from everyone, and you were pretty sure someone should have taken Larry to the emergency room to get his face looked at.

You bid the group goodbye, then walked to your car. Van chased after you. "Y/N, wait up!" You stood between your car and the open door. "I think he really liked that?"

"He did. He's injured everyone he loves. He's a happy fucking weirdo,"

Van laughed. "Yeah. Yeah, he is." He looked around for a second. "Is Tash just coming to the party? Thought we invited her to this too?" Why was he asking about Tash?

"Um. We did, but we broke up a few weeks ago. Just after we made the plans, so…" 

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know…"

"You're alright. I'll see you later, yeah?" He nodded and took a step back so you could get into your car. As you drove down the driveway you watched Van slowly walk back to the others in your rear view mirror.

…

It was about 1am when Van found you lying on the grass under a tree. He sat down next to you cross legged and laid a blanket over you. "What you doing out here? You're gonna catch a death," he said. He was right. It was incredibly cold and the grass was wet from it. Everyone else had gone inside. But, the sky was clear and you could make out the starry spread of a galaxy, far, far away. You curled the blanket around you and sat up, mirroring his position.

"Stars," was your reply. He looked up, nodded, then looked back to you. "You're not drinking," you observed.

"I was earlier. Just kind of sobered up." You nodded. "Are you alright, Y/N?" It was a big question for someone that had only just started to talk to you properly to ask.

"Yeah,"

"Do you want to talk about it? About Tash?"

"Nothing much to talk about. We were just at different places, I think. I'm not really sad about it,"

"I liked her," Van started to say. You cut him off.

"I know. Everyone liked her. I get it,"

"No. Wait. You didn't let me finish, love. I liked her, but I don't think she really, like, got you," he said. How would Van know if someone 'got' you, when he hardly knew you himself? Except for the hazelnut soy hot chocolate. And which of the records you'd want to take home. And your game plan for paintball. And your whereabouts at a party of a lot of people. And maybe a whole lot of other stuff.

"Probably not,"

"You are much more chill than her. Happy to sit around and watch some T.V. and just be, you know? She always seemed to be doing something,"

"That makes me sound really boring,"

"You're not boring. I don't think you're boring," he quickly replied. You looked at him. Maybe you didn't know him either.

"What kind of person do I need to be with then?" you asked. Please don't describe yourself. Please don't describe yourself.

"I don't know. They'd need to be happy just relaxing with their mates, and stuff, like you. But you'd get fed up with someone lazy. They'd got to be doing something, you know? You like manners, so they'd need manners. And they'd have to like music and movies. Not even the exact same as you, just some quality ones. They'd need to be able to tell you when you get all moody, but also be kind when you have them rough patches that happen to you. Bit of mayhem, but just a solid person, you know?" He spoke the words as he thought them, and his sentences were stunted but honest. He was describing himself though. You didn't know if he knew he was doing it. Unlikely.

"What colour eyes do you think they should have?" you asked.

"Don't matter. Blue maybe?"

"What gender?"

"You like them all, yeah? That's your thing. Guess it doesn't matter, as long as they love you to bits."

You sat quietly together for a while before Van convinced you to go inside. You split up once in the house, and you didn’t see him for the rest of the night.

…

A week later a package arrived on your doorstep. There was no return address. It was a limited edition Twin Peaks set. DVDs, books, a mug, and a Who Killed Laura Palmer poster. It wasn’t your birthday, nor any special occasion. You didn’t remember talking to anyone recently about the show, and your intense love for it. You had no idea what to make of it. That is until Bondy accidentally provided information unknowingly. You were on the phone to him later, just catching up. You mentioned you want to buy the Stranger Things vinyl set.

"Van was telling me about this website he found that do all these cool limited edition packs of stuff. He got this Twin Peaks set for someone that sounded pretty cool. Message him and ask for the site."

He didn’t know what he'd done, and when you didn’t reply, he asked what was wrong.

"Does Van ever talk about me?" you asked.

"Why?"

"Just… Does he?"

"What's going on with you two? You've both been fucking weird for a while,"

"I know! He just… He never liked me before? Did he? And now he's, like… different.”

Bondy made a sound like he knew something but didn’t want to say. You refused to speak until he broke. "I did notice that he was, like, less weird around you after you broke up with Tash…"

"Fuck. Bond, the Twin Peaks thing is sitting on my fucking kitchen table. What do I do?"

He laughed. "I fucking knew it! I always thought he had a thing for you. I fucking knew it. Man. I'm gonna give him so much shit,"

"No. Leave him alone. I just… What do I do?"

"Do you like him?"

You'd not considered that. Before the birthday planning coffee, you'd never really given that kind of attention or cognitive space to Van. You were dating Tash when you met him, and you'd always been loyal to her. Then, when she was gone, you were too confused by Van's sudden warmth to know if you liked it at all. You were busy trying to explain it, rationalise it, and in doing so lost sight of the bigger picture. When you'd been lost in thought and failed to answer Bondy's question, he spoke again.

"I think that answers the question, kid."

…

You went with Bondy to one of Catfish's practices. When they were finished, you picked up Van's second guitar in its case and offered to carry it out for him. You walked side by side alone outside.

"So… thanks for the Twin Peaks stuff," you said. His spine straightened, but he didn't look over at you. When he didn't reply, you said, "I got the poster framed. It's up in the living room. You know where that old Hendrix poster used to be?"

Van stopped walking suddenly, and he turned to face you. The guitar case swung with him, and almost crashed into you. He held it upright and looked at you, poised to say something. He breathed out, then just continued walking. You followed him to his car in silence. He took his guitar from you and packed it into the back with his other. You stood waiting. He locked the car and went to walk back into the house.

"Van?" You didn't walk, forcing him to stop. He turned around slowly and looked at you again. "What… You… You never hated me, did you?" His forced blank expression dropped, and he looked genuinely confused and hurt.

"What? No!?"

"Because before I broke up with Tash you were always so weird around me and I just need to know for sure that you don't hate me," you said and you knew he didn't, but you wanted to hear it. He took the few steps needed to be in front of you, but he didn't stop. His body pressed yours to his car and he leant in to kiss you. He stopped before you could kiss back.

"I don't think it's physically possible for me not to like anything 'bout you, Y/N," he said. You nodded quick, and stood on tippy toes to kiss him. His arms wrapped around your waist and held you close. Kissing him was so different to kissing Tash. You mentally kicked yourself for thinking of her while kissing him, but it was still recent enough that that would probably happen for a while yet. When you stepped apart from each other there was an understanding that meant you didn't need to say anything more. You tried to bite a smile off your face, but it didn't work. Van shook his head and took your hand. As he led you back inside, he said, "Your brother's going to kick my ass."


End file.
